AGS Speaker Series: Dr. Celeste Cunningham of St. Francis Xavier University
Location: Science Building - 408
Celeste Cunningham is an Assistant Professor of Geology at St. Francis Xavier University. Her research aims to understand Earth’s surface environments, both in the past and present. She integrates physical sedimentology with geochemistry, biogeochemistry, and stratigraphy to study global geological processes, their products, and their links with global climate patterns. In particular, her research utilizes a combination of field-based mapping and laboratory-based geochemical analyses to examine the physical processes that control depositional trends in outcrop, and how carbon sequestration in sediments has occurred and evolved throughout geologic time.
'Making Waves: Using the Sedimentary Record to Unravel Mysteries of the Deep Ocean'
Abstract: Deep-marine fan systems are extensive features that host some of the most significant accumulations of sediment worldwide. They also preserve a near-continuous record of paleoenvironmental conditions, including ocean chemistry, biological activity, climate, and sea level, and can host valuable geologic resources. Due to their large scale, the destructive nature of deep-marine processes, and the general inaccessibility of the deep ocean, the study of modern deep-marine fans poses significant challenges. It is therefore necessary to use the ancient sedimentary record to study these systems and reconstruct past oceans and environmental trends. In this talk, I’ll go coast-to-coast exploring two ancient deep-marine systems and what they can tell us about the physical processes operating in the depths of the oceans, the evolution of earth and how the global carbon cycle is influenced by marine processes, and the role these systems can play in the future of green energy.